What should I do as a steemit newbie: comment or write my own posts?
The answer to this question is as simple as it comes, right? Do both!

Ok, let's complicate things a little bit...

What should you FOCUS on as a steemit newbie: commenting or creating your own posts?

Let's see: if you want to post something with a minimum of substance, you need at least a few hours to come up with a topic, research it and write the post. Even if you think it's your masterpiece (and we all are subjective about our own work), it is likely you've done a lot of beginner's mistakes when writing it.

I know I've done a ton of them so far and I'll probably continue to do, but less and less as I'll improve through practice.

Here's how a post becomes known to other stemians:

1. every post which is published shows up in the 'new' category; it will stay at the top for at most 10 seconds, being replaced by a new post
2. posts show up under the tags the author used when publishing; the more popular the tag, the least time spent on top; the less popular, but specific tag, the more time spent on top
3. posts are displayed on the feed of your followers; the more engaged followers you have, the better chances there are they will upvote, comment, maybe resteem
4. posts can be resteemed to reach a wider audience (this can be very powerful); some users practice paid re-steeming (meaning they re-steem for SBD or Steem)
5. if the potential rewards exceed a certain level in a short time, your post can make it to the 'hot' or even 'trending' categories; paid voting bots play an important role in deciding who makes it and who doesn't in these categories.

Most new users of steemit will only have access to the 1 & 2 means to make their posts known. Some will use voting bots, but only by exception they will make it to the 'hot' or 'trending' categories.

The real viral effect on your posts is created by the 3, 4 & 5 points. Which means a beginner needs to do something to accede to those potential treasures.

A beginner can write quality posts, but in most cases it will take a long time for people to discover them.

The best course of action is to comment often on posts where there is engagement from the author and from the other readers. Insightful comments as much as possible (or asking questions relevant to the topic) will be very well received, but in no way a few words thrown out asking for an upvote or a follow for follow.

That's how community will start to know you. Some will be curious to see what you publish, and if they find it interesting, they will follow. You will also earn most rewards from your thoughtful comments at first, and not from your posts!

When you engage in the comments section (whether it's on your own post or a different post, with the author or with another commenter), this is the base of a relationship. Try to be mindful in your comments even when you are tired, or otherwise delay it until you are fresh. Upvote great comments (especially on your blog, because people took their time to comment), when it feels right downvote various abusers (I haven't so far, I feel I'm yet too green for that). Don't comment without upvoting a post first, to show the author your appreciation by voting too!

How much should I comment?

As much as you can, while keeping each comment unique (not copy-pasted!) and to the point of the post. I tend to stop commenting when I'm tired, because I no longer make good points.

Keep in mind that commenting is easier than posting, because it comes as a reaction to the post, while posting isn't always written as a reaction to anything immediate, so more difficult to conceive in this case. Formatting requirements for a great comment are less strict than for a great post as well. So, given only these arguments, you can comment more than you post in the same unit of time.

How often should I post?

I'd say this is subjective. Choose a pace and stick with it. Consistency is the key in writing as it is in many other things. I imposed on myself a daily rhythm on steemit, while before I only wrote weekly posts. The switch of pace is not easy, especially from long to short, but even in reverse, if you want to be effective.

If you choose a daily pace early on, as I did, you will of course see many posts go almost unnoticed. Some may have not been worthy of any attention, but others may have been. It's a choice you'll have to live with.

At some point, if you keep going, you'll have a daily habit of posting and the daily rewards from them will seamlessly increase.

Conclusion

Commenting is paramount for any beginner in steemit. I don't think there's an experienced user I've read or heard with a different opinion. Many of them have kept the habit of commenting long after they crossed the stage of 'beginners' or 'minnows' or however we want to call it. What do this tell us? It's effective!

Finding a posting pace is important and the longer in time it is practiced, the better we become and the stronger the habit.